Chabad Lubavitch of Iceland
Chabad-Lubavitch in Iceland: Chabad á Íslandi and the Jewish Community Iceland – Beit Tovah Chabad in Reykjavík, run since 2018 by Rabbi Avraham Feldman and Mushky Feldman
| Chabad Lubavitch of Iceland
| |
|---|---|
| Logo |  Logo of Jewish Community Iceland – Beit Tovah Chabad |
| Type | Jewish religious organisation (Chabad-Lubavitch) |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Headquarters | Reykjavík |
| Location | Beit Shvidler Jewish Center, Hverfisgata 33, 101 Reykjavík |
| Area served | Iceland |
| Key people | Avraham Feldman (director), Mushky Feldman |
| Website | https://www.jewishiceland.com |
Chabad Lubavitch of Iceland, which calls itself Jewish Community Iceland – Beit Tovah Chabad, is the Chabad-Lubavitch organisation in Iceland. It was established in 2018 by Rabbi Avraham Feldman and his wife Mushky Feldman and since July 2026 has been based at the Beit Shvidler Jewish Center, Hverfisgata 33, 101 Reykjavík.[1][2][3][4] Chabad.org describes it as "the only active Jewish organization in the country".[4]
History
In February 2018 the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that Avraham (Avi) Feldman, aged 27, from Brooklyn, and his Swedish-born wife Mushky, who grew up in Gothenburg, Sweden, would settle in Reykjavík as Chabad emissaries and planned to set up a synagogue, a mikveh and Jewish education for children, none of which then existed in Iceland. Feldman said local Jews had celebrated holidays without a resident rabbi, often with the help of visiting yeshiva students and Chabad rabbis. The report put Iceland's Jewish population at about 250 and noted a pending bill to ban the non-medical circumcision of boys; ritual slaughter was already illegal.[2] According to Chabad.org, visiting Chabad rabbinical students had held events in Iceland from 2011.[5] The organisation's website says it was "established in 2018 by Rabbi Avraham and Mushky Feldman", who "work together with the local Jews who kept Judaism active for decades".[1]
Beit Shvidler Jewish Center
On 7 July 2026 the Beit Shvidler Jewish Center opened in Reykjavík, the first Jewish centre in Iceland's history. According to Chabad.org, the opening was attended by Eugene Shvidler and Naomi Shvidler and by Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky of Chabad's headquarters; speakers included Jón Gnarr, a former mayor of Reykjavík and member of parliament, and the acting US ambassador, Joanie Simon, and messages were read from Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir and the Speaker of the Althing.[4] The JTA reported that the 9,000-square-foot building, a former bar and party headquarters bought in 2024, was funded largely by community donations, and that it includes a mikveh which was not yet operational.[6] Lubavitch.com put the cost of the project at $3.8 million.[7]
Registered entities
- Chabad á Íslandi – association (félagasamtök), ID number (kennitala) 560119-2320, registered on 13 December 2018, at Lindargötu 50, 101 Reykjavík. Its chair is Avraham Feldman, and the register lists the board – Patrick Maurice Franzois Sulem, Chaja Muschka Feldman and Avraham Feldman – as its beneficial owners. Its activity code is ÍSAT 94.99.9 (activities of other membership organisations).[8]
- Menningarfélag Gyðinga á Íslandi (Jewish Cultural Association of Iceland) – registered religious and life-stance association, kennitala 520421-1300, at Lindargötu 50, 101 Reykjavík, with founding documents dated 9 March 2021. Avraham Feldman is its chair; the register lists its board as Michael Aaron Levin, Jessica Marie LoMonaco, Sigal Harmeshi, Patrick Maurice Franzois Sulem and Avraham Feldman. Its activity code is ÍSAT 94.91.0 (activities of religious organisations).[9] The Chabad community's website tells members to choose this association when registering their religion with Registers Iceland.[10]
State recognition and funding
Iceland formally recognised a Jewish religious association for the first time in March 2021. According to Chabad.org, the registration of the association was approved on 8 March 2021; it allows members to direct their parish fee (sóknargjald) to the association, makes ceremonies such as weddings civilly recognised, and could later lead to a grant of land for a synagogue. Chabad.org said the application had been prepared with Páll Arnór Pálsson, a lawyer who is also Israel's honorary consul in Iceland.[5] Fréttablaðið reported on 20 March 2021 that the district commissioner (sýslumaður) had confirmed the registration, that the association had more than 40 founding members, and that it aimed to build a synagogue, applying by analogy the law under which municipalities provide free plots for churches.[11] In October 2021 Registers Iceland reported that the new association had 38 registered members.[12]
The Beit Shvidler Jewish Center was funded by private donations. Lubavitch.com and Chabad.org name the donors as including Eugene Shvidler, Isaac and Tovah Cohen, George Rohr and Pamela Rohr, the Popack Foundation, and Dovid and Rivka Feldman.[7][4] Shvidler was designated for sanctions by the United Kingdom on 24 March 2022 under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which froze his assets worldwide. On 29 July 2025 the UK Supreme Court dismissed, by a majority, his appeal against the designation, with Lord Leggatt dissenting.[13]
Relations with the Jewish community and the state
Members of the local Jewish community took part in the 2021 registration; Chabad.org quoted Mike Levin and Julian Burgos about it.[5] The JTA reported in 2026 that Iceland's Jewish population was about 300, and that Iceland's foreign minister attended the community's Hanukkah celebration on 14 December 2025.[6]
Israel
The 2021 registration was handled with Israel's honorary consul in Iceland, Páll Arnór Pálsson.[5] The JTA noted in 2026 that Iceland had been one of five countries to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest over Israel's participation.[6]
See also
- Chabad-Lubavitch movement
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Iceland
- Chabad Lubavitch of Norway
- Chabad Lubavitch of Denmark
- Chabad Lubavitch in the UK
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Who are we?", Jewish Community Iceland – Beit Tovah Chabad, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Chabad to end rabbinical cold spell in Iceland", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, republished by The Times of Israel, 12 February 2018, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Jewish Community Iceland", Jewish Community Iceland – Beit Tovah Chabad, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Shloimy Galperin, "Iceland Gets Its First Jewish Center", Chabad.org, 9 July 2026, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mendel Super, "Judaism's Frozen Frontier: Iceland Formally Recognizes Judaism", Chabad.org, 18 March 2021, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Jenna Gottlieb, "Europe's smallest Jewish community gets a home of its own — complete with geothermal mikvah", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 9 July 2026, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Leibel Kahan, "Iceland Gets Its First Jewish Center in History", lubavitch.com, 14 July 2026, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Chabad á Íslandi, 560119-2320", Fyrirtækjaskrá, Skatturinn (Iceland Revenue and Customs), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Menningarfélag Gyðinga á Íslandi, 520421-1300", Fyrirtækjaskrá, Skatturinn (Iceland Revenue and Customs), accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Menningarfélag Gyðinga á Íslandi", Jewish Community Iceland – Beit Tovah Chabad, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ Fréttablaðið, 20 March 2021, p. 8, via Tímarit.is, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Skráningar í trú- og lífsskoðunarfélög í október 2021", Þjóðskrá (Registers Iceland), 8 October 2021, accessed 25 October 2026.
- ↑ "Shvidler (Appellant) v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Respondent)", press summary, [2025] UKSC 30, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, 29 July 2025, accessed 25 October 2026.